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The Plowman - Makenna Doramus
Summary The Plowmanhttp://www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/characters.html is a minor character in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Taleshttp://www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/summary.html who goes on a pilgrimage with his brother, the Parsonhttps://www.shmoop.com/canterbury-tales-prologue/the-parson.html. He works long, laborious days doing any job he can find including, moving carts of cow manure and he does not make very much money. The plowman is a member of the lower class, meaning that he dresses very modestly and wears what he can afford to make or buy and that will last long days while he is working. The plowman is a devout man of God and never fails to pay his tithes.http://www.dictionary.com/browse/tithe If he does not have the money for tithes in his pockets he will sell his possessions to get the money to pay them. Like his brother, the Parson, he practices the word of God regularly and is a good and holy man. Characteristics Physical Characteristics The Plowman works long days doing the most undesirable manual labor jobs of the time. The plowman is most likely very fit because he has to be strong to work doing the odd jobs around town. He is a member of the lower class so the clotheshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1300%E2%80%931400_in_European_fashion that he wears is most likely his only outfit. He is a humble man so he wouldn't have posh clothing like a noble or rich man and he most likely wears an apron. Class The Plowman is a member of the medieval lower class.http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-peasant-middle-ages.htm During the medieval times it was hard to be in the lower class. If you were a man in the lower class your day most likely started at three in the morning and ended after the sun went down. You would eat before you went to work and you would eat when you got home. Your day would consist of working in the fields reaping, sowing, and binding the crops. If you were a womanhttp://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-peasant-women-middle-ages.htm in the peasant class you would go to work the same time as your husband and could possibly work in the fields, but it was more likely that you would work in a house tending to children, animals, food, and the garden. Symbolism In The Canterbury Tales the Plowmanhttps://www.shmoop.com/canterbury-tales-prologue/the-plowman.html symbolizes the lower class that is good and not corrupt like the upper and middle classes. He is the poor man who believes in God and works hard to make it in life. There are other people in the lower class that would resort to blackmail or extortion just to sustain their families, but the Plowman is honest and does things the right way. Middle English When Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Taleshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canterbury_Tales#Language he wrote it in middle English.http://public.oed.com/aspects-of-english/english-in-time/middle-english-an-overview/ Chaucer wrote this book for the people to be able to read so he wrote in a way that they were able to read. When Chaucer pronounced letters like e, that are silent in modern English, so words like care would be pronounced with an extra "ae" sound at the end. Soon after Chaucer died, this trend of pronouncing extra letters and sounds no longer occurred. Looking at middle English and modern English next to each otherhttp://www.librarius.com/canttran/gptrfs.htm it is noticeable that you are still able to read modern English, but there are some very distinct differences. Sources http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/characters.html http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/summary.html https://www.shmoop.com/canterbury-tales-prologue/the-parson.html http://www.dictionary.com/browse/tithe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1300%E2%80%931400_in_European_fashion http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-peasant-middle-ages.htm http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-peasant-women-middle-ages.htm https://www.shmoop.com/canterbury-tales-prologue/the-plowman.html http://public.oed.com/aspects-of-english/english-in-time/middle-english-an-overview/ http://www.librarius.com/canttran/gptrfs.htm